Reds attack N. Samar police station; 1 hurt

TACLOBAN CITY — Some 100 heavily armed rebels stormed the police station in Gamay, Northern Samar yesterday morning, just days after military intelligence reports warned that the New People’s Army (NPA) was targeting for attacks 24 police and military installations in the three Samar provinces.

The attack was the fourth on Samar island since March.

Last July 6, the insurgents attacked a patrol base of the Army’s 52nd Infantry Battalion in Cagpili, Oras, Eastern Samar, killing five soldiers, 10 CAFGU (Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit) members and a soldier’s wife.

SPO1 Benjamin Cardeñas, of the operations division of the Northern Samar police, said in a phone interview that the insurgents swooped down on the Gamay police station at about 6 a.m.

The five policemen manning the police station shot it out with the guerrillas, resulting in the wounding of PO1 Alex Alastoy, who was hit in the left chest.

The rebels retreated after an hour of firefight, carting away nine M-16 Armalite rifles and two caliber .45 pistols.

Chief Superintendent Dionisio Coloma Jr., Eastern Visayas police director, earlier admitted that 75 percent of police stations in the region lacked personnel.

But he said this was not an excuse for the police units not to give a fight when attacked by terrorists.

The Gamay police station, which has only 12 personnel, was among those identified as targets of NPA attacks. The others are the police stations of Bobon, Mondragon, Catubig, Silvino, Lobos and San Isidro towns, and the military detachment in Lope de Vega town.

Last March 8, 150 rebels raided the town hall and police station in Calbiga, Samar, wounding two policemen and a jail guard.

This was followed on June 22 when the NPA stormed the municipal hall of Quinapondan, Eastern Samar, wounding the town’s police chief, Senior Inspector Cayetano Ganaban.